TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) — State and federal agencies are offering a $6,500 reward for information leading to those who shot and killed two alligators in the Pond Creek National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Arkansas.

Authorities say one alligator was shot in March and the second was killed and decapitated last Saturday.

Nicole Paquette with the Humane Society of the United States noted that alligators are protected as a threatened species under state and federal law.

The reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for killing the alligators is offered by the Humane Society, the Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.